Saturday 4 July 2015

Obsidian Sea - “Dreams, Illusions, Obsessions” (Album Review)


‘This is honestly one of the best doom albums I have heard so far in 2015.’


Album Type: Full-Length
Date Released: 15/4/2015
Label: Serpent Eve Records

“Dreams, Illusions, Obsessions” CD//DD/CS track listing

1). The Trial Of Herostratus
2). Confession
3). Child In The Tower
4). Mulkurul
5). The Fatalist
6). Somnambulism

Obsidian Sea is:

Bozhidar Parvanov | Drums
Anton Avramov | Vocals, guitar
Ivaylo Dobrev | Bass

Review:

Obsidian Sea, a 3-piece band hailing from Bulgaria and what they have done is creat an absolute beast of an album with their debut LP, “Dreams, Illusions, Obsessions.”  These guys are all over the doom map…traditional style mixed with new style grooves and some serious crunch!  Hell, there’s even some cowbell thrown in for good measure (and we all know you can’t have enough cowbell, right?)!  This band does doom and does it well.

“The Trial of Herostratus” starts things off with a slightly up-tempo riff with killer fuzz that will have you acknowledging that you’ve made a damn fine choice in picking this album up.  It has a Pentagram vibe to it and gets the album off to a brilliant start.  “Confessions” is next and slows the tempo down a bit, but also lets the guitar player show off his superb soloing skills, guitarist/vocalist Anton Avramov does some really stellar work here and it fits in with the slow groove perfectly.

“Child in the Tower” follows and this is a track that, in my humble opinion, would definitely work as the theme for one of those old school Hammer Films.  I really dig the gothic horror movie style feel to this one.  “Mulkurul” follows in the equivalent mode as the previous song, with same slow, creepy gothic vibe and lots of howling vocals from Anton, though not as guitar-centric, relying heavily on the organ to create its mood.

The succeeding tracks are by far my favorites of the album.  Gothic-vibe be damned, “The Fatalist” and “Somnambulism” gets the listener back to some good old-fashioned doom with killer riffs and some great guitar work.  “Somnambulism” ends the LP on a definite high note with a nearly psychedelic solo by Mr. Avramov.  Excellent stuff here.

This is honestly one of the best doom albums I have heard so far in 2015.  You need to add Obsidian Sea to your collection and make sure to keep a close watch on them as I anticipate great things from them going forward.

Words by Mike Lainez

“Dreams, Illusions, Obsessions” is available on CD/DD here and limited cassette here

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